Art Monthly 396: May 2016

Contents

Mona Hatoum Map (clear) 2015 installed at Pompidou Centre

Interview

Unstable Ground

Mona Hatoum interviewed by Virginia Whiles

The Beirut-born London-based artist talks about the equal but different challenges of making work on site or with carte blanche.

The performances that I created in the 1980s were often fuelled by anger. There was a sense of urgency and they often took on the character of a protest or a vigil.

Trisha Brown Roof Piece 1973 photograph by Babette Mangolte

Feature

On the Record

Mark Prince questions the idea of photography as the ultimate recording medium

If the work of John Hilliard, Lawrence Weiner, Dan Graham and others questions the privileging of the photograph as a historical record, does it instead offer the potential for the record to replace its referent?

The limitation of this prevalence given to the photographic model is that it tends to over-egg the retrospective aspect of the equation and correspondingly neglect the ability of the record of a performance to create as much as recall its referent, and ultimately to replace it.

From the Back Catalogue
Cover Stories John Hilliard interviewed by Patricia Bickers

Comment

Editorial

Yes, Yes Minister

When a media executive describes the culture secretary, John Whittingdale, as being untouchable because he is an 'asset' for the Daily Mail, isn't it a clue that the MP is compromised?

It is entirely possible that John Whittingdale was acting from principle and not under pressure, but the point is that it is impossible to know, which is why he should go.

Letters

Institutional Racism

Jack Bon, Jesse Darling, Lizzie Homersham, Paul Purgas and Takeshi Shiomitsu question the use of an image of Stephen Lawrence in the 'Let It Rain' exhibition curated by Millington/Marriott at Assembly Point in south London.

Artnotes

Bold? New? Vision?

The government launches its Culture White Paper; the New Local Government Network publishes a report on the future of arts funding; the Panama Papers reveal the shell companies behind high-value art sales; the Netherlands' Vincent Award is cancelled after artists withdraw in protest; Gulf Labor Coalition responds to the Guggenheim's withdrawal from conciliatory talks; the latest news on galleries, appointments, prizes and more.

Obituaries

Tony Conrad 1940-2016
Janet Hodgson 1960-2016

Mathew Parkin I Believe in You 2016 video

Profile

Mathew Parkin

Lauren Velvick on how the British artist, who has used labels to attack labelling and the work of others to address issues of identity, has moved on to question the persona of the artist.

Mathew Parkin's retreat from the production and display of objects also reflects his uneasy relationship with the studio and the traditionally authoritative persona of the artist within that space.

Thanassis Akokkalidis Don't Look Down 2016 performance
NEON & Marina Abramovic Institute: As One, Benaki Museum

Exhibitions

A Lesson in Sculpture with John Latham

Henry Moore Institute, Leeds

Neil Zakiewicz

NEON & Marina Abramovic Institute

Benaki Museum, Athens

Cherry Smyth

Channa Horwitz

Raven Row, London

Martin Herbert

Ryoichi Kurokawa: unfold

Fact, Liverpool

Tom Emery

Franciszka & Stefan Themerson: Books, Camera, Ubu

Camden Arts Centre, London

David Briers

Fourteen Turns: Meditations on a Coffee Mill

Lubomirov/Angus-Hughes, London

Michael Hampton

Fruits of the Lûm

Crown Building Studios, Liverpool

Double Act: Art and Comedy

The Bluecoat, Liverpool

Laura Robertson

A Weed is a Plant out of Place

Lismore Castle Arts, Waterford

Chris Clarke

Glasgow International Festival

various venues

Martin Holman

London Round-up

Frith Street • Alan Cristea • South London Gallery

Martin Holman

London Round-up

Vilma Gold • Project Native Informant • Gasworks

Larne Abse Gogarty

London Round-up

Hannah Barry • Bosse & Baum • Arcadia Missa • The Sunday Painter

Paul Carey-Kent

Berlin Round-up

Martin-Gropius-Bau • Haus der Kulturen der Welt • KW Institute

Olga Smith

Reviews

Books

Kate Eichhorn: Adjusted Margin – Xerography, Art and Activism

David Briers on the photocopy's effect on early alternative art presses.

Whether you go all the way with Kate Eichhorn's central argument that xerography 'came to play a major role ... in the dissemination of late 20th century aesthetic and political movements' and that its consequent 'impact on art and literature cannot be underestimated' remains debatable.

John Roberts: Revolutionary Time and the Avant-Garde

Peter Suchin tackles a critical theory blockbuster.

Roberts takes us through Hegel's account of the end of art, Adorno's aesthetic theory and negative dialectics, Alain Badiou's critique of Hegel, Donald Kuspit's unconvincing conservatism, ideas of avant-gardism in Peter Bürger and Hal Foster, deskilling in art after Marcel Duchamp's readymades, and a lot more besides.

Reports

Film

Essay Film Festival

Alex Fletcher on films that reveal the forces shaping individual lives.

Nouvelle Vague filmmakers, in lovingly consuming cinema, were compelled to become critics and auteurs.

Artlaw

Copyright

Fair Use

Henry Lydiate applauds a bold move by a major artist's estate.

In recent years throughout the artistic world fair use has become the elephant in the room, which the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation's new policy addresses head on.

Listings

Events

London Art Calendar

The updated events and exhibitions calendar can also be viewed online.

Exhibitions

Exhibition Listings

Art Monthly's exhibition listings can be viewed online.